Incident of marked ballots in Asawase unverified – EC

The Electoral Commission on Monday said allegations of an incident of marked ballots made by Alhaji Mohammed Mubarak Muntaka, the Member of Parliament for Asawase in the Ashanti Region is unverified.

A statement issued by the EC and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the Commission, working closely with the Security Services to investigate the incident identified that a voter unscrupulously and unsuccessfully attempted to put in fake ballots into a Parliamentary ballot box.

It said the fake ballots were identified based on the serial numbers on them, which did not tally with the counterfoils in the original ballot paper booklet.

The statement said the ballots were much lighter in texture than the Commission’s original ballot papers.

It said the investigation also revealed that the colours on the fake ballots were much fainter than that of the Commission.

According to the statement the stamp at the back of the fake ballots was oval contrary to the Commission’s validating stamp.

It urged the public to report instances of electoral malpractice, and advised the public to desist from issuing unverified statements that lead to unnecessary confusion and heightens tension.

“Such statements, especially when coming from leaders do not auger well for the peace of the nation we urge all Candidates to exercise decorum and verify information before issuing media statements”, it said.

Source: GNA